No Snow Days for HME

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress might be stymied by poor
weather, but home care providers are used to it. During the epic
blizzard that hit the eastern seaboard last week, countless HME
providers remained on duty, standing by to serve oxygen patients
and others who required medical equipment and services, according
to the American Association for Homecare.

The historic deluge — dubbed “snowmageddon” by some news
reports — shut down much of the mid-Atlantic, including
federal agencies in Washington and the House of
Representatives.

“The country may survive just fine as the House of
Representatives postpones its business in light of the severe
weather in DC, but those who rely on home care equipment and
services would face extreme hardship or even death if their
providers were to postpone or cancel the service they offer in
every type of weather and other adverse conditions,” AAHomecare
President Tyler Wilson commented during the storm.

In one example, Coram Specialty Infusion Services (part of Apria
Healthcare) never stopped servicing hospital-based clinicians who
were ready to discharge infusion patients. “Our Lancaster and
Malvern, Pa., branches in particular never missed a beat in serving
our hospital-based customers and patients,” said Lisa Getson,
executive vice president, government relations and corporate
compliance, for Lake Forest, Calif.-based Apria. Ultimately,
patients were discharged home for single and multiple intravenous
antibiotics, total parenteral nutrition, pain management and
anxiolytic therapies, she said.

“The eastern Pennsylvania teams never let a single dismal snow
day slow them down,” added Mark Sharp, Coram’s vice president of
operations for the mid-Atlantic region. “They continued serving
hard-hit areas like those served by Hershey Medical Center, Holy
Spirit Hospital and the Altoona Regional Health System.”

By accepting the referral discharges despite the serious
weather, Sharp said, the company helped prevent unnecessary
in-patient bed days, saving both the hospitals and patients higher
costs.

Working to overcome bad weather is nothing new for HME
providers.

Karyn Estrella, executive director of the New England Medical
Equipment Dealers Association, recalled that an ice storm in early
2009 affected a number of states in the Northeast. NEMED members
worked around the clock in the first 48 hours making sure customers
had backup systems due to power outages.

“Some areas were without power for 30 days,” said Estrella.
“[Providers] are part of the team of first responders, and that is
not widely known.”